Daily Times

Jakarta: The Indonesian stadium where 135 people died last year in one of football’s worst tragedies lies empty but intact, despite government pledges to demolish it and rebuild a safer site.

The red and blue stands of Kanjuruhan Stadium outside Malang city serve as a reminder to some of how little has changed since football fans — including 43 children — were trampled or suffocated to death in the October 1 stampede.

“There is no political will from the government or (Indonesian football association) PSSI to improve itself,” said Anton Sanjoyo, a sports columnist who served on the task force created after the tragedy.

The nation’s most popular sport is still reeling from the chaos unleashed when police fired tear gas into packed stands after home supporters invaded the pitch at the end of a heated match.

In the aftermath, Indonesian officials were urged to confront failings in the domestic game — blighted for years by shaky infrastructure, mismanagement and violence — and to hold organisers accountable.

The investigating task force Sanjoyo served on called for the head of Indonesia’s football association and all members of its executive committee to resign. Instead, in the weeks immediately after the disaster, PSSI chief Mochamad Iriawan caused a furore when pictures emerged of him high-fiving and playing football with FIFA President Gianni Infantino.